When it comes to passwords, having a long, randomized string of characters isn’t enough. Where to store passwords also plays a role in their security and privacy.
Browser password managers are a popular option for many individuals and organizations looking to practice basic password safety, easily storing strong passwords for every account.
However, browser password managers are rarely your best option. And as AI-powered phishing campaigns and infostealer malware make credential theft faster and more scalable than ever, the risks of relying on browser-based storage have never been higher.
What’s a browser password manager, and how does it work?
Most web browsers include a password manager, whether it’s Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, or Microsoft Edge. At work and at home, people tend to gravitate towards browser password managers because they require little to no setup. As soon as you sign up or sign in to an account, most browsers offer a pop-up asking whether you’d like the browser to save your logins for you.
Built-in browser password managers usually come with an autofill function. When you navigate to a familiar website’s login page, the browser automatically fills in your username and password. That way, you’re only one click away from signing in.
However, that same simplicity can also be a detriment. Browsers tend to offer the most bare-bones functionality of a password manager. Your credentials are also typically only protected by the same email and password combination of your browser account, and browsers also might not sync your credentials across multiple devices.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these drawbacks.
7 drawbacks of a browser password manager
Despite the surface-level convenience of browser password managers, there are many reasons why security-conscious individuals and businesses opt for alternative solutions.
There are several drawbacks and risks to using your everyday browser as a password manager:
1. Lack of built-in security and encryption
A browser’s job is to allow you to surf the web, and many don’t offer a zero-knowledge architecture that would maintain the privacy of your data, including passwords. Thus, you never truly know what the organizations that own the browsers will do with your sensitive data.
Also, many browsers’ business models rely on data collection and user tracking, which conflicts with ensuring user privacy.
Furthermore, browsers are a primary target for infostealer malware, which is software specifically designed to harvest browser-stored credentials, autofill data, session cookies, and saved payment details. In the first half of 2025 alone, infostealers stole 1.8 billion credentials from 5.8 million infected devices, an 800% surge compared to the prior period.
Because browser password storage is predictably located and tied to OS-level encryption, a device infected by an infostealer can lose every saved password in seconds, all without the user ever knowing.
AI has made the threat worse. Attackers can now generate convincing phishing emails and build complete spoofed login pages in seconds using generative AI tools. Browser-native managers have no mechanism to detect or flag these sites in real time, which means the moment a user lands on a phishing page, their credentials are at risk.
2. Physical access through your device
If you lend anyone your mobile device or desktop, or it gets stolen, that person can easily navigate to the password repository in your browser and gain access to all your credentials. Simply having a passcode on your device isn’t enough to deter all attempts, as it’s easy for a skilled individual to export your logins or install keylogger spyware without you noticing.
3. Poor cross-platform compatibility
While the functionality may exist for your browser password manager to sync across multiple devices, there’s no cross-platform compatibility, which means you’re confined to using the same browser. For example, you can’t access Safari passwords on an Android or Windows device.
Even within the same platform, the syncing itself isn’t always reliable, and new logins don’t always immediately show up on all your connected devices. This can be particularly frustrating if you’re constantly switching between devices for specific apps and websites, or if you have a spotty internet connection.
4. Cross-application limited functionality
A browser password manager only has access to the sites and web apps loaded through it. You can’t as easily use it to store passwords from desktop apps and dedicated software.
It’s the same on a mobile phone. You’d need to manually copy and paste your passwords to and from the browser every single time you log in.
5. No secure sharing feature
Browsers make it very difficult to securely share passwords, whether it’s sharing logins with your friends and family or needing to grant a colleague access to an account.
Without a dedicated password-sharing function, you’d have no choice but to send passwords over unsecured channels, like email or messaging apps, such as Slack and WhatsApp.
6. Difficult for admins to manage
For IT and security professionals, managing browser-based passwords for their organization is incredibly difficult. They have no efficient way of implementing changes when an employee joins or leaves the team.
Also, if everyone is saving logins to their personal browser, admins can’t monitor which apps and websites the employees have up-to-date access credentials to.
7. Increased risk of data breaches
Credentials stored in browsers are a high-value target in an increasingly industrialized attack economy. According to Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, credentials were involved in 88% of web application breaches, making credential theft the most common attack vector in that category.
And once credentials are compromised, the clock moves fast: More than half of ransomware victims in 2024 and 2025 had their credentials surface on infostealer marketplaces before the attack took place, with the window between a stolen credential and a ransomware incident sometimes under 48 hours.
Browser password managers offer no real-time alerting when credentials are exposed, meaning by the time a breach is reported, a threat actor may have already used your data to access accounts.
Alternatives to browser password managers
Native password managers aren’t your only option for password management. There are many purpose-built alternatives depending on your everyday needs and technical experience.
Browser extension
Unlike the browsers themselves, password manager browser extensions are specifically designed to keep your passwords safe. They operate similarly to built-in password managers, requiring little intervention after the initial setup, but they offer more security features.
Password manager extensions, like the Dashlane browser extension, include all the necessary functionality and security measures of an external password manager—encryption, cross-device syncing, secure sharing, and more—without sacrificing the convenience of a browser-based solution.
Modern password manager extensions like Dashlane go further still. Beyond secure storage and autofill, they now offer real-time AI phishing detection, alerting users the moment they land on a suspicious or spoofed site, before any credentials are entered.
Browser-native managers offer no equivalent protection, leaving users exposed at exactly the moment it matters most.
Apps
For employees who conduct the majority of daily work on a single company-provided smartphone or tablet, a mobile app password manager might be your best option. For those who use multiple devices, a web app is a more versatile alternative.
In either case, the app runs in the background and takes care of saving and autofilling your passwords as needed across multiple apps and websites.
Local software
Local password manager software is another secure way to store passwords offline. It works like a dedicated password manager, but it stores your credentials locally on your device, instead of the cloud or an external piece of hardware.
By keeping your logins offline, password manager risks of a data breach or malware are minimized. However, you may need to manually sync your passwords across devices, and you lose access if your device is lost, stolen, or simply needs to be charged.
Stateless
A stateless or token-based password manager is another one of the best ways to store passwords offline, particularly for employees. It uses an external device, such as a USB stick or NFC (Near-Field Communication) dongle, to access your accounts. Since your passwords are regenerated at every login, the risk of a web-based data breach or malware is lower.
However, you must have the device with you to access your accounts, which is inconvenient if it’s misplaced or broken.
What to look for in a secure password manager
When asking yourself, “Are password managers safe,” the answer depends on the password manager’s security protocols and functionality. For the most robust solution, look for the following features:
- Autofill: The best password solutions automatically fill in your logins on websites, software, and apps, without you needing to manually copy and paste them.
- Password generator: Using random passwords with a unique mix of special characters, letters, and numbers ensures your passwords are difficult to crack.
- Cross-device syncing: When a password manager syncs password changes and updates across devices with little or no delay, it makes for a seamless experience.
- Multi-platform support: When password managers work across platforms, you can use the same password manager on all your daily devices—desktop, tablet, and smartphone.
- 2-factor authentication (2FA): Enabling 2FA on your accounts is a good security habit you should always practice. This adds a layer of security to your passwords, often through an OTP (one-time password) or a physical token.
- Single sign-on (SSO): With SSO, a single password is sufficient to securely log in to multiple software and web apps. For businesses, this means employees can easily log into their password manager the same way they’re used to logging into other work accounts.
- Zero-knowledge architecture: This security standard is important when it comes to sensitive data. In a password manager with a zero-knowledge architecture, no one—not even the company that owns the password manager—is able to access or read your passwords.
- Encryption: Strong encryption is one of the most important features of password storage. Cryptographic algorithms are used behind the scenes for a password manager to ensure that only permitted individuals can decode and access the data.
- Account recovery: Many password managers have a way for users to regain access if they lose their master password, but some methods are more secure than others. More secure methods require initial setup on the user’s end. It’s important that it’s not too easy, otherwise bad actors can just as easily “recover” accounts.
- Admin tools: Strong password managers should come with standard features for admins to make company collaboration easier. Features like password sharing, monitoring, and security alerts are all admin tools that make managing your passwords more efficient.
For individuals: Simple, secure password management
For personal use, Dashlane gives you everything a browser password manager can't:
- Zero-knowledge encryption keeps your credentials private, so not even Dashlane can see them.
- Password generator creates strong, unique passwords for every account, so no two logins are ever the same.
- Autofill works seamlessly across browsers and devices, so you're never locked to one platform.
- Dark Web Monitoring alerts you if your personal information surfaces in a breach, before someone else acts on it.
- Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection to your Dashlane account itself.
- Cross-device syncing means your passwords are always with you, whether you're on your phone, tablet, or desktop.
For organizations: Proactive credential security built for today's threats
With Dashlane Omnix™, you don't have to choose between convenience and protection. The proactive credential security platform has user-friendly features like autofill, SSO, cross-device syncing, and passwordless login that make it easy to incorporate into your daily workflow.
And Omnix goes beyond the vault to address the full lifecycle of credential-based threats:
- AI Phishing Alerts detect and warn employees the moment they visit a suspicious website—even if they're not logged into Dashlane—so credentials are never entered on a spoofed page.
- Credential Risk Detection continuously surfaces at-risk credentials across your entire organization, including shadow IT and unmanaged apps outside the vault.
- Credential Risk Alerts & Notifications automatically alert employees in Slack or the Dashlane extension when they log in with a vulnerable credential, with clear guidance on how to fix it and no manual follow-up required from IT.
- Dark Web Insights monitors for compromised credentials and alerts your team before exposure becomes a breach.
- Zero-knowledge architecture and end-to-end encryption ensure that nobody—including Dashlane—can access your private information.
In a threat landscape where credential theft is automated, AI-powered, and operating at billion-credential scale, reactive password management isn't enough. Omnix gives security teams the proactive intelligence and real-time response they need to stay ahead.
References
- Dashlane, “Why Employees Shouldn’t Let Browsers Save Their Passwords,” January 2024.
- TechXplore, “Browser extensions could capture passwords and sensitive info as plain text,” October 2023.
- Infosecurity Magazine, "Staggering 800% Rise in Infostealer Credential Theft," 2025.
- DeepStrike, "Stealer Log Statistics 2025," December 2025.
- Dashlane, "AI Phishing Alerts in Dashlane Omnix™."
- Security Everywhere, “How Do Hackers Steal Personal Data From Your Devices?” October 2022.
- Dashlane, “7 Dangers of Sharing Passwords Without a Password Manager,” March 2023.
- Cybercrime Magazine, “Web Browsers Are Doorways To Cyberattacks,” January 2024.
- Okta, “What Is Token-Based Authentication?” May 2024.
- Thales, “One Time Password (OTP, TOTP) : definition, examples.”
- GeeksforGeeks, “Basics of Cryptographic Algorithms,” March 2024.
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